The old vets who gather at VFW Post 7843 in Duncanville argue about everything — politics and religion, immigration and abortion, civil rights and sexual orientation — but they typically share a singular love of country and professional football.

Ricky Williams

(Scott Farwell/Staff)

So after a weekend of locked arms and bended knees in the NFL, a protest that swept the full slate of games after Monday night's showing of solidarity by the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals, nowhere was the debate more personal than at racially diverse gatherings of American veterans watching America's most popular sport.

Ricky Williams, the commander of VFW Post 7843, said he struggles to straddle a life that is both patriotically American and African-American, identities that increasingly seem in conflict.

"As a veteran of the United States, I think it is disrespectful to me personally, but at the same time, we fought to give people the freedom to protest in that manner," he said. "It's a slap in my face, but I strongly support the cause, pointing out the injustice toward black people. I just don't support the way it's being done."

Williams said he sensed this particular demonstration against police brutality, which began last year when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat down during the national anthem, was beginning to lose steam. But a speech by President Donald Trump in Alabama last week reinvigorated the movement and unified NFL players, coaches and owners against him.

"Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He's fired. He's fired!" Trump said at a rally for Republican Luther Strange, who's running to keep a U.S. Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Trump followed up the speech with a flurry of similarly incendiary tweets, a trademark of his young presidency.

The booing at the NFL football game last night, when the entire Dallas team dropped to its knees, was loudest I have ever heard. Great anger

The pregame protests last weekend, which were carefully choreographed and supported by league officials, attempted to find a sweet spot between two tricky issues: affirming players' rights to free speech, while not offending veterans and others who see standing for the national anthem as a sacrosanct act of respect.

Don Singleton, who was in the Army during the Vietnam era, said the demonstrations failed.

"I agree with Trump, absolutely," said the 67-year-old, who is white. "If players take a knee, they should not play in that game or get paid for it. I love football, but it's getting to where I'd rather watch college than the NFL."

Singleton said it makes no sense to disrespect the flag during protests about police brutality or racial injustice. The flag symbolizes the ideal of equal rights, the aspirations of a blind judicial system, our right to live free.

In the same way Trump's point is lost in his vitriolic rhetoric, the issue of persistent and institutional racism is overshadowed by televised theatrics.

"The players have a valid point: Some things need to be fixed," Singleton said. "But they're going about it at the wrong place and time."

Williams agreed. As the commander of the VFW post, he tries to promote substantive conversations among veterans rather than emotional ones, especially when it comes to politics and religion.

"Those topics should be spoken of, but I've found there are three things that don't mix — politics, religion and alcohol," he said. "If I can take two of those from the equation, we can continue to sit around and talk and lie about what we did in the service."